BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

This year's review will be on the blog itself. If we are going to talk about the state of the local game for the past twelve months, it would be another session of flogging the dead horse. EVOLUTION - NECESSARY PROCESS Evolution is a necessary process for most of us and this platform is no different in order to stay relevant. Although I would say I took a route that evolved this platform into something not conventional and some may not even find it relevant at all. Since last year, this platform decided to place more focus on something it had never done before when the compilation of historical accounts of local football is being prioritized. Sunday Nation headlines on 13th March 1977 ( NLB archive ) The process of combing through the archives of the online newspaper has been a rewarding experience in that it is an eye-opener to realize how active the scene was in the long-gone era. Media coverage by the press was abundant with newspapers like The Straits Times, Malay...

#BrasilGlobalTour2019- Brazil 1-1 Nigeria 131019 Brazil's "Bobby" Firmino (20) prepares for a shoot against Nigeria The star-studded Brazilian national team wrapped up their whirlwind tour with another draw against another African opponents - Nigeria at the National Stadium. Joe Aribo scored for the Super Eagles in the 35th minute before Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro levelled the scoreline in the 48th minute. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES WCQ 2022 - Singapore 1-3 Uzbekistan 151019 Both Shawal Anuar (20) and Irfan Fandi (17) raided the Uzbeks' fortress Singapore succumbed to their second consecutive defeat following a 3-1 lost to Uzbekistan at the National Stadium. The visitors took the lead in the 15th minute through Odil Ahmedov before Ikhsan Fandi equalized at the stroke of half time to send the home fans to wild jubilation. Eldor Shomurodov's double in the second half wrapped up all three points in the bag fo...

Somehow, the atmosphere for the ongoing Komoco Motors Singapore Cup tournament just don't seems to feel right at all. It is a major cup semi-final phase we are now talking about but the ambience is as if nothing happened to set the stage right for the fans, if any, to fire up their imagination. The semis are scheduled four days apart. ( source ) Here we have a situation that not only could possibly see Brunei DPMM clinch a historical double but would also see any three of the local sides, namely Geylang International, Tampines Rovers and Warriors FC put an end to the "local drought" by claiming the Singapore Cup this season. STAGS' LAST HOPE FOR GLORY Having fumbled in their league title chase, the Stags knew it very well the Cup is their best hope to end their trophy drought after they last won the S.League title back in 2013. But even with a two-goal advantage from their first-leg win over Geylang, their co-tenants at Our Tampines Hub, Tampines are well...

Neymar Jr said "Goodbye" before making his exit from the Nigeria game due to an injury   The Brazilian national team concluded their whirlwind tour of Singapore that saw them pit against Senegal and Nigeria over the past few days at the National Stadium. These friendly matches were scheduled as part of the exclusive arrangement between the Brazilian FA (CBF) and Pitch International, a leading sports marketing agency, under the "Brasil Global Tour" package that began in 2012 and will continue till the 2022 World Cup tournament. Liverpool's Roberto Firmino (20) made his attempt against Nigeria POOR CROWD FIGURES  As compared to the 51,557 that packed the same arena five years ago to witness the "Seleçāo" featured against their Japanese counterparts and saw superstar Neymar Jr. netted all four goals, a paltry crowd of 20,621 turned up for the designated hosts' one-all draw with Senegal on the first night despite having some of the bigges...

I was wondering if the turmoil at Warriors Football Club did not surface, would the attention be dominated by the injury-time appearance of that Fulham FC youngster by the name of Ben Davis in the Carabao Cup or the "Goal 2034" topic? A poll was conducted to ask which was the talking poll on Facebook The Thai-born Davis caused quite a stir a few months ago for defaulting his National Service (NS) obligations in his pursuit of a professional football career in England. Whereas the troubles at one of the most successful clubs in Singapore football history saw the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) take an unprecedented step to direct Warriors FC to remove Paul Poh from his role as the club's general manager and honorary secretary following several lapses of discrepancies. While the two incidents may not be linked directly, it is not hard to realize the coincidence of having the military background in both occurrences. MILITARY BACKGROUND For ...

SGPL - Geylang Int'l 2-1 Tampines Rovers 140819 Tampines Rovers' Singapore Premier League title hopes suffered a setback when a late Yuki Ichikawa's header sealed the fate that saw Geylang International beat Stags 2-1 at JBS. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Lions Training Session - 070919 Coach Yoshida (left) injected flair to Lions' game since took over Following the 2-2 draw against Yemen days earlier, national coach Tatsuma Yoshida put the Lions through the drills in their preparation against the Palestine on the 10/9 at the JBS. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES Friendly - SGP Selection 2-0 Fiji U22 060919 The Fijians' wall saw the ball glided past them This friendly match against their Fijian counterparts at Bishan Stadium saw the Singapore U22 included a number of overaged players like Raihan Rahman, Fabian Kwok and Sahil Suhaimi in their squad as part of the preparation for the upcoming S...

Much attention have been generated since the announcement of the "Brazil Global Tour 2019" which will be taking place in Singapore next month. This event will feature the Brazilian national team in two friendly matches to be played at the National Stadium where the "Seleção" will play Senegal on the 10th of October before facing Nigeria three days later. It marks the second visit of the five-time World Cup champions to the republic where they last visited back in 2014 when they beat Japan 4-0 in the 55,000-capacity arena of Singapore Sports Hub (SSH). STAR-STUDDED SQUAD TO COME TO SINGAPORE The Brazilians will have the likes of PSG's Neymar Jr and Roberto Firmino who is likely to face his Liverpool team mate Sadio Mané (if he is being selected) of Senegal in the first match. The stellar cast with these stars to parade their skills on our shores had fans like Frankie Goh looking forward to the upcoming bonanza. The "Seleção" squad named ...

The possibility of the revival of the once-popular Singapore Business Houses Football League (SBHFL) or starting something similar was raised during last year's Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Congress when president Lim Kia Tong was quoted in The Straits Times (ST) report that covered the event. Said Mr Lim: "The plan is to see participation from both businesses and professional associations. We would like to have the corporate sector involved in football again." The Commercial Cup ( NLB archive ) Suggestions from the fraternity to revive SBHFL were nothing new and it was one of the topics brought up in the discussion during the campaigning of the 2017 FAS elections. "It was a good league (SBHFL) where you could get the companies to support football." said Lian Kim Fatt, the honorary secretary of the Singapore Government Services Football League (SGSFL). "If you don't give the companies mileage, how can you expect them...

The bold announcement of Singapore eyeing a spot in the 2034 World Cup by Edwin Tong , the vice-president of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), sent a shockwave around the local football fraternity in recent days. It came at a time when local football is still trying to pull itself out of the bad patches it is experiencing now and barely a surprise such a lofty target is met with skepticism from all corners  once again it brought back sad memories of the "Goal 2010" project which was launched in 1998. I shall not dwell on why and how the "Goal 2010" was mooted but here to share what I witnessed at the fanfare at Suntec City - the venue where the whole project kicked start on 5th December 1998. GOAL 2010 WAS LAUNCHED AT SUNTEC CITY  It was a huge turnout with everyone eager and excited to play a part in this historical day that was supposed to see Singapore adhere to a blueprint to see her qualify for the World Cup in 2010 (although FAS clarified it wa...

I first came to know the existence of the demolished Anson Road Stadium after I read a line from the veteran journalist Godfrey Robert's book "The Malaysia Cup" published back in 1990. USED TO THINK JBS WAS THE OLDEST Prior to that, it was always in my opinion that Jalan Besar Stadium was the oldest football stadium in Singapore (even though the old arena used to function as a rugby and hockey venue as well) due to its aged facade which I noticed when I first visited the ground back in the early 1990s before the redevelopment program begun in December 1999. Big turnouts like this were common at Anson Road Stadium (credit: NLB archive ) Field diagram for listeners tuned in for radio commentary in the old days (credit: NLB archive ).   Recently, when I chanced upon an online article that provides a scribe on the arena, it piqued my interest to find out where exactly was this stadium located in the Tanjong Pagar area. EXHIBITION VENUE TURNED INTO STADIUM Accordin...

Lions Training Session 060619 Coach Yoshida briefs his players at Geylang Field Spotted two staff coaches, presumably, from Albirex Niigata (Singapore) observing the training session conducted by new national team coach Tatsuma Yoshida by taking notes of what they saw and noticed. The Lions will be playing two friendly matches at the National Stadium against Solomon Islands and Myanmar. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES SGPL - Geylang Int'l 5-0 Balestier Khalsa 160619 Geylang's Barry Maguire brace for an aerial ball  Geylang International crushed Balestier Khalsa 5-0 at Our Tampines Hub following the resuming of the AIA Singapore Premier League after the international week. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Geylang Int'l 2-2 Hougang Utd 050719 "Guys, I am just focusing on my shot" Thought the match was an evenly-contested one at Our Tampines Hub that ended two-two for both Geylang Intern...

With due respect to the past visiting teams, this year's International Champions Cup Singapore (ICCSG) Tournament was probably be the most glittering since Singapore Sports Hub first hosted the event in 2017 under an ongoing four-year agreement. Not only because two of four participating teams - Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs are two of the best supported English Premier League sides in Singapore, Juventus, who back in Singapore for the first time since 2015, were boasted by the presence of talismanic Cristiano Ronaldo and the impressive 19-year-old Matthijs de Ligt, the new signing from Ajax Amsterdam following his notable performance that won him admirers among the top clubs in Europe. Credit to the man in cap for started the Kallang Wave on last Saturday Apart from the largely cold shoulder response by the Red Devils to their adoring fans upon their arrival at their Ritz Carlton Millenia base, the players of other three participating sides duly ob...